India: Man donates organs soon after being sliced in two in road accident

A man in the southern Indian state of Karnataka has reportedly donated his organs soon after he got sliced in two in a road accident. Harish Nanjappa, 23, was on his motorcycle when a truck hit his vehicle and ran over him, on the morning of 16 February.

According to the Times of India daily, Nanjappa pleaded with people and doctors present that his organs be donated to those in need, even as he was being transported to hospital. Doctors have harvested his eyes, the newspaper reported.

Doctor Bhujang Shetty of Narayana Netralaya said: "Luckily, he was wearing a helmet. His eyes were not damaged. His eyes will be donated to two individuals." However, no other organ could be harvested, the doctor added.

Nanjappa met with the accident when he was on his way back from his home town of Gubbi, in Tumakuru district, located about 75km from the state capital of Bangalore. He had visited his home town to vote in the local body elections.

According to police, the accident occurred when a truck, loaded with sugar bags on the Tumakuru-Bangalore highway, hit Nanjappa's motorcycle while trying to overtake it. The victim was thrown under the truck's wheels, police said, slicing his body in two, with the lower part flung a few feet away.

For a few minutes Nanjappa was on the road pleading for help while passersby looked on in horror. Some filmed his severed body, while others quickly informed the police, who dispatched an ambulance to the scene.

"Ambulances reached Harish in about 8 minutes after the accident was reported. He was alive when he was rushed to the nearest government hospital. A few minutes after reaching there, he passed away," police official Rajendra Kumar said.

Police have registered a case of causing death due to rash driving against the truck driver.